There is a saying in Sino-US relations that "small balls turn into big balls". The "small ball" refers to table tennis, which mainly refers to a series of events during the period of 197 1 in which table tennis teams from China, China and the United States exchanged visits. At that time, after the consumption of the Vietnam War, the United States' strength and international status declined relatively, and it needed to seek diplomatic strength to counter the Soviet Union.

The success of China's two bombs and one satellite has significantly improved China's international status, and China also wants to improve its international status and enter the United Nations, so both sides just lack an opportunity. 197 1 year, China table tennis team participated in the 3 1 World Table Tennis Championships held in Nagoya.

On April 2nd, when players from all over the world were sightseeing in the waters of Triple Island, American glenn cowan greeted the players from China: "Hello! What a beautiful game your China team played! Find a chance to play a few games with us! " Team member China smiled and replied: "Good! You will go one day.

"On another occasion, American Cohen mistakenly boarded the China team's car outside the stadium. China's Zhuang Zedong improvised, took the initiative to come forward and shake hands with him, and sent a tapestry with Huangshan patterns as a souvenir. The scene of Cohen getting off the bus with brocade in his hand was captured by reporters present and became explosive news. The next day, Cohen prepared a sweatshirt with a peace sign and the words "Let it go", and waited for Zhuang Zedong on the only way for China team to give him a return and hug him.

These two events prompted the Chinese and American table tennis teams to invite each other to visit each other. From April 10 to April 17, American Table Tennis Association athletes and a small group of American journalists arrived in Beijing and visited the Forbidden City, Tsinghua University and the Great Wall. In return, the United States invited the China table tennis team to visit the United States. In April 1972, 1 1, the China table tennis team paid a return visit to the United States, visited the Detroit industrial base and visited Disneyland.

The exchange of visits between Chinese and American table tennis teams became a major event of world concern at that time and was called "table tennis diplomacy" by the media. Ending the isolated relationship between China and the United States for more than 20 years. On February 2 1972, Nixon visited China and Sino-US relations were normalized.